QUITO -(Dow Jones)- A study by Ecuador's government shows 1,025 environmental liabilities in areas where state-run oil company Petroecuador operates, said newspaper El Universo on Friday.
The study, carried out by the environmental arm of Petroecuador, took place between October 2008 and October 2009.
El Universo quoted Brummel Vazquez, environmental vice-president for Petroecuador, as saying that of the total environmental liabilities, about 500 of them are the responsibility of the Texaco Petroleum Company, which had operations in Ecuador from 1964.
According to Vazquez, the environmental cleanup could take at least 10 years. Each area requires an average investment of $100,000.
In 1967, Texaco formed a consortium with Ecuador's state-owned oil firm, Petroecuador, and was in charge of operations until 1990, when Petroecuador took full operational control. Texaco left the consortium in 1992.
In 2001, Chevron Corp. (CVX) acquired Texaco Inc. Chevron is currently facing a multi-billion dollar environmental lawsuit at the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios in Ecuador for alleged contamination of Ecuador's Amazon region.
In 1998, following a $40 million remediation program, based on a 1995 agreement between Texaco and Petroecuador, Ecuador's government released Texaco and its related companies from any claims and liabilities regarding cleanup efforts.
Chevron has said that Texaco remediated 161 of 430 identified oilfield pits and seven spill areas, in proportion to the company's shares in the consortium, which met the standards of the time and the terms of the agreement.
Chevron blames Petroecuador for most of the pollution, and says the state oil company has never fulfilled its responsibility to remediate its share of the venture's production site.
The plaintiffs say that the remediation agreement is invalid because the company never cleaned the pits, adding that the agreement didn't release it from third-party claims.
In April of last year, Richard Cabrera, a court-appointed investigator, submitted to the court a report recommending that U.S. oil company pay at least $8.3 billion - or as much as $16 billion - in compensation for environmental damages in Ecuador.
In another report sent to the Nueva Loja Court, in November of 2008, Cabrera increased the amount to $27.3 billion.
James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, said Friday that the figures released by Vazquez about the remediation cost to clean each pit demonstrate the "absurdity of Cabrera's report that talks of about $3 million for each pit to be remedied."
"The Vazquez numbers, which appear more realistic, should be contrasted with those included in Cabrera's report which has mistakes, inconsistencies and unsubstantiated conclusions," Craig said.
Petroecuador planned to invest about $100 million in clean-up operations this year. It has already invested $174.5 million in clean-up operations between 2005 and 2008.
Petroecuador operates Shushufindi, Sacha, Auca, Lago Agrio, Liberator and Cuyabeno oil fields in Sucumbios and Orellana provinces.
Chevron has said that since Texaco's departure, Petroecuador has drilled over 400 new wells in the concession area, compared to the 321 wells that were drilled during the consortium period, and there are has been more than 1,400 oil spills since 2000 alone.
Petroecuador declined to comment.
-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com